Prey drive

[kellbell191]

I imagine a behaviorist could help you with this. I think Katiescats has a dog with a prey drive and 3 cats. Personally, its just not something I would be comfortable with. I wouldn't want to worry about screwing up one day or not monitoring properly and something happening to my cats.

[nital]

Regardless of whether or not you have a cat, I think it's a good idea to work with a trainer to teach him to tolerate being around cats and to learn self control.

However, given his history, I would not trust him alone with a cat, ever.

[nital]

Yep. That's exactly why I think all dogs need to at least tolerate cats. I always see cats and squirrels when I walk my dogs. It's been work, but my high prey drive dog doesn't make any move to chase cats or squirrels on our walks anymore. She used to be so bad I could put treats on her nose (she's extremely food motivated) and and that still couldn't break her focus on the cats.

[foundmylazybum]

We have an English Pointer who has a strong prey drive. He lives with our cat--who will walk right up to him and put his ass in our pointer's face.

I would NEVER leave them alone unattended. Ever.

Your dog killed a cat? I think you are absolutely correct that if a cat is something you are interested in--behaviorist is in your future.

[katietornado]

FMLB, you got another dog?!

We have a Kelpie who has a lot of "issues." Had he been prey drive tested before being adopted, he probably would not have been allowed to go to a home with cats. But we yanked him from a high kill shelter with few resources, without ever having met him, so we got what we got. It took about 7 months before we could even allow him to be in the same room with them. He fixated and stared and stalked. Fast forward 5 years and everyone coexists happily, but if he had a history of killing a cat, there's no way I'd ever consider getting one. EVER.

[jenjeff06]

No.

We have a Weimaraner and had two cats (one passed away). My dog is fine with "her cat".

However, our neighbor's cat decided to trespass in our yard. We let Bella out and didn't know it was out there. She chased and caught the cat, and killed it.

I would not tempt fate. I will NEVER introduce her to a strange cat.

[lavender444]

We adopted a Boxer who also killed our cat. His prey drive was wild when we first brought him home. He would go into a trance and it was nearly impossible to break him from it. He would bolt at the sight of any small animal moving. He got better. The last few years before he passed away, he would walk calm on a leash by dashing rabbits, squirrles and cats. But I would never bring another cat into the house while he was around. It was not worth the heartache.